Christine Woodside RSW RGI

I am drawn to paintings with dogs as an integral part of the composition.   I walk my dogs twice a day in all weathers. I am able to observe them against grass, waving corn, stubble fields, ploughed earth and finally snow.

Pieter Bruegel’s wonderful  Hunters in the Snow 1565,  depicting winter, with graceful silhouettes  of a line of dogs with arched backs and curved tails is one of my favourite paintings.  The contrast  of very dark tonal imagery against  the snow, the dogs and the tree trunks produce  a strong rhythm. The dark birds in the trees and the focal point of the bird flying in from the left is a device I use in my paintings  to lead the eye in and through the landscape.  I also usewhite fantail doves which I bred in my dovecot.  I spent hours studying them in my garden.

A must for any animal lover are Craigie Aitchison’s rich and expressive paintings,  very simple yet so powerful in their execution.  I find them  deeply moving. I do remember seeing  Craigie at the  Islington Art Fair with his belovedBedlington ‘Waney’ on his knee.  Craigie, with his shock of pure  white  hair complementing his little dog’s coat beautifully.